Four batshit insane grunts take on the undead hordes of the Axis. Or replace the grunts with four historical figures from the 1960s, four horror-genre celebrities, four oddball civilians, or four gangsters from the 1930s who somehow managed to survive the apocalypse, possibly less insane but still pretty Crazy Awesome.

The next game, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, also features this. Five maps were created during the lifespan of Black Ops II: Green Run / TranZit (the biggest map to date and the setting for the new campaign mode, also containing the five Survival maps)the 1960's "apocalypse of the future", Nuketown Zombies, the Chinese skyscraper zombcaper, Die Rise, the mysterious Alcatraz island, Mob of the Dead, and an underground western town in Angola, Buried. The final map in Black Ops II is called Origins, featuring the original characters from World at War and Black Ops, takes place in World War I, and contains three giant fucking robots as map elements.

Zombies return in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare as DLC, making it the first non-Treyarch game (Advanced Warfare was developed by Sledgehammer Games) to contain the mode, as well as the first time the mode is not available by launch. However, as Advanced Warfare and the Black Ops series have different continuities, the zombies now have different origins. They are now an Alternate Continuity result of the bio-weapon Manticore and can be optionally fought in the Exo Survival mode's Riot map, serving as a teaser.

The Zombies mode made a return in Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 on two fronts: the "main" first map will be Shadows of Evil, a Spiritual Successor to Mob of the Dead, set in a 1940's city-slicker environment. Four hardened criminals fight off zombies and more as they're lured into a mysterious game by an even more mysterious figure. An pre-order exclusive map, The Giant, features the original crew of Richtofen, Dempsey, Takeo, and Nikolai, in a remake of fan-favorite World at War map Der Riese, picking up the story from the cliffhanger ending of Origins. The rest of the DLC solely revolves around the classic characters; from an icy Group 935 Castle at Der Eisendrachen, a murky Japanese swamp in Zetsubou No Shima, and a war-torn Stalingrad in Gorod Krovi. The Black Ops III season of Zombies will conclude with Revelations and bring the current Story Arc to its' conclusion.

A tie-in Zombies comic was announced for release in October 2016 by Dark Horse Comics, set to revolve around the main cast of Black Ops II, last seen in Buried.

The Nazi Zombies story is very complex; it involves practically everything from the Illuminati to the Third Reich to aliens to the works of George Romero. Each map contains tons of little Easter eggs only the most observant of players will find and these little clues often play a bigger role later on. The ongoing Story Arc is also mostly played out through increasingly complex Easter eggs while the backstory is told through audio logs. Word of God is mostly averted as Treyarch almost never has anything to say about the story, leaving fans to try to put the pieces together by themselves. The general synopsis can be found here, put together through said audio logs and Easter eggs.

Tropes for this game:

After the End: The setting of Zombies in Black Ops II, as a result of Richtofen's Grand Plan in "Moon".

All Just a Dream: The ending of Origins takes place in an alternate dimension forged by Dr. Monty, where incarnations of Dempsey, Nikolai, Takeo, Richtofen, and the Maxis' can live out their lives in a peaceful sanctuary, where the children play with toy counterparts of zombies, characters, and vehicles of the game mode.

All the Worlds Are a Stage: Revelations is incredibly fragmented due to the proceeding events, resulting in a number of previous maps "bleeding" into it. This includes Kino Der Toten, Nacht Der Untoten, Mob of The Dead, Shangri-La, Origins, Der Eisendrache, and Verruckt.

Black Ops II introduces a system where you can build various tools, devices, and weapons, and introduces a new main cast consisting of Action Girl Misty, Insufferable Genius Marlton, Conspiracy Theorist Samuel Stuhlinger, and Badass Grandpa Russman. Also, Clark S. Nova and Malukah take over music duties from Elena Siegeman until Origins, where they collaborate.

Mob of the Dead is a dark, sombre story of four murderous mobsters fighting to escape an overrun Alcatraz in Purgatory.

Shadows of Evil is a map based in the 40s, where four people with dark and gruesome pasts end up fighting off the hordes of Cthulhu. And if you complete the Easter Egg in full, Richtofen from Origins comes and takes away the key to saving the world. It is implied Morg City, where SoE takes place exists in another dimension.

And the Adventure Continues: The Origins crew gets erased from existence by Dr. Monty at the end of Revelations, only to change his mind the last minute and have them sent back in time as the legendary Primis heroes, effectively repeating the time loop once again.

Radio transmissions in Shi no Numa, experiment records in Der Riese and film reels in Kino Der Toten. When you play by yourself in Kino der Toten, you hear Richtofen making one last note before they're transported to the theatre during the loading screen.

This occurs even more so in, Die Rise. Hidden televisions allow you to hear what just has been going on outside the world... and it is not pretty.

"Letting go" first shows up in Mob of the Dead and remains a theme for the final three maps. A savvy fan decoded a cypher on the lyric video of "Where Are We Going" that further points to this phrase: "Let go and the beginning will become the end."

One of the most popular custom gamemodes in previous multiplayer COD (or just about any other first person shooter) was/is "zombie mode" or some variation of it. So much so that it led Treyarch to simply include it as a factory gamemode.

Arm Cannon: The Russian Mangler in Gorod Krovi has this as a primary weapon. Shooting and breaking it will cause it to go ballistic and sprint after whoever was responsible.

The Atoner: In the original timeline (and the canon ending of the split Easter Eggs), Dr. Maxis took control of the Aether and destroyed the Earth in an attempt to find Samantha in Agartha - but failed to find his daughter, having destroyed Earth for nothing. To help create a better future for the universe, Maxis helps the Origins crew and directs them along their quest.

Richtofen, especially, has one in his theme song for Tranzit, Carrion.

Lyrics: I was spawned from eternal night, by infernal right, and I need your carrion. Neurons fire when I violate, pupils dilate, and I feel your carrion. I bring doom and defile light, your entire life, will now cease to carry on! I've returned and I'm not alone, never to atone, and forever carry on.

Richtofen, an accomplished scientist in his own right who's arguably the central character of the series.

Robert McNamara, who often makes accounting jokes while slaughtering zombies.

Marlton in Black Ops II, seeing as he's a bespectacled nerd who still manages to slay zombies with the best of them.

Back-to-Back Badasses: A variation in an early trailer advertising Nacht der Untoten, it ended with four nameless American soldiers putting their backs together to cover all angles from the approaching zombies.

BFG: Excluding the already massive machine guns that you can hip-fire:

The Wunderwaffe and the Thundergun.

The Jet Gun may not function as well as the Wunderwaffe and Thundergun, but good lord is it big.

Introduced first as a power-up in 'FIVE' is the Death Machine, which is the crown jewel of BFGs as it is a fricking minigun!

And you can upgrade it too! It becomes the Meat Grinder and holds 550 rounds per 'magazine'... More Dakka anyone?

The Paralyser. A gun so big, you can't aim down sights with it (The Thundergun and Jet Gun also cannot aim down sights.) And it is very useful. (Not quite a gun, but who cares?)

In Origins, we now have the water cooled MG08. The fact that is is meant to used by two people, in a static position...

In Black Ops III, the Gorgon and the SVG-100 are the biggest weapons you can get out of the Mystery Box and both fire massive .50 caliber rounds.

Richtofen. He swaps bodies with Samantha in Moon to gain control of the zombies, if you carry out his Grand Scheme.

Dr. Maxis takes over as the announcer in Buried, if you listen to his commands. If you stick with Richtofen, Dr. Maxis is gone for good, which may or might be the better choice.

In the new timeline forged by the Origins crew, Richtofen and Maxis are working together to save the universe from the Apothicons, horrific entities who seek to plunge the universe into destruction by planting Divinium in all dimensions, making them the Big Bad of the entire series. Their chief enforcer is the Shadow Man.

Bilingual Bonus: The soldiers in the "Zetsubou No Shima" intro speak only untranslated Japanese.

The Bluebeard: Nikolai. Subverted in Gorod Krovi, where it's revealed that Nikolai had only one wife that was killed during the war.

Boom, Headshot: Not necessary, but gains you the most points (other than knifing - and since zombies will kill you in one or two hits, and knifing zombies can take up to five swings, this isn't recommended) and uses less ammo. However, on the later rounds, people care less about headshots and more on staying alive. However, headshot damage multipliers still help with the staying alive bit.

Characters will often brag aloud about their headshots.

One of the Perk-A-Cola machines (Deadshot Daiquiri) gives you a perk that adjusts your quick aim to the head instead of the chest.

As of Tranzit, it is possible to gain a 'persistent perk' that increases the power of headshots.

Ritchtofen does this to his older self in the cutscene of The Giant.

Nikolai also does this to his older self in the end of the Easter Egg for Gorod Krovi.

Bond One-Liner: All the time. Nikolai makes shitty ones all the time, and then gets a bit confused on the aspect of it being after a kill.

"You are dead now! But you were dead before! Ah, fuck you!"

Nikolai again, in Black Ops: "Do you know how to say 'own' in Russian? OWNT!

Nuketown is this for Black Ops II, being the only one that doesn't feature an Easter egg, though you get to listen to Richtofen carrying out his scheme on the Moon.

Mob of the Dead takes a break from the Maxis/Richtofen arc and doesn't advance the main plot, but it is in no means Lighter and Softer than the other maps.

Call of the Dead is largely a love-letter to horror fans with an all-star cast and an original song written for the game by Avenged Sevenfold, and only advances the main plot minimally through the Easter egg.

The intel in Black Ops reveals that Dempsey and company were guinea pigs for the virus, but instead of turning into zombies, they got stronger and healthier, but were inflicted with Laser-Guided Amnesia. Word of God confirmed that Richtofen is Edward from the messages and he lacks the aforementioned amnesia, and he's the one who infected them.

One of the funniest Running Gag's of the series has been Nikolai mentioning his love for vodka and his many, many wives. Gorod Krovi reveals that he only ever had one wife, and after she was killed in an air raid, he became a drunk to forget the pain of losing her.

Even a friggin' pistol that shoots grenades, an alien Ray Gun, and a bazooka are worse than the machine guns and the Wunderwaffe.

Rebalanced in Black Ops, where the machine guns do less damage, allowing SMGs and assault rifles to compete, even at higher rounds.

Shows up in Tranzit, where you build a massive Jet Engine that can suck up zombies and rip them to shreds... however is notably weak compared to other Wonder Weapons and lacks their efficiency.

Cosmic Horror Story: After the revelation that the Shadow Man in Shadows of Evil is a servant of an eldritch entity bent on destroying our dimension, the story of the series becomes a race to change history and save the Earth from this otherworldly evil. Revelations reveals that the Apothicons, masters of the Shadow Man, are evil entities from the Dark Aether who seek to bring about destruction to all dimensions by planting Divinium in each dimension. Planting it in the original timeline led to its' discovery at Shi No Numa, and eventually Black Ops II in which both Richtofen and Maxis destroyed the Earth after being guided by the Shadow Man. Now, the heroes are tasked with defeating the Shadow Man and the Apothicons and saving the universe from annihilation.

The fire pit in Kino Der Toten is crucial to certain strategies to reach high rounds.

In Mob Of The Dead, one trap put in the way towards the Warden's office consists of two fans that gib any zombie that passes through them. The other trap is located in the Cafeteria and rains pure acid onto the zombies.

Traps return in Shadows Of Evil as chains hidden in the walls that launch and shred zombies into bits.

In Zetsubou No Shima, one trap consists of two precariously held B-17 engines, which lower down and decapitate any zombie that passes through it when activated. The second trap is a turbofan embedded in a wall that sucks zombies in and gibs them on it's rotors.

The Sliquifier shoots a liquid that pops zombies into bits and chains similarly to the Wunderwaffe. If shot in the floor, it causes the zombies to slip in hilarious manners.

The Apothicon Servant is an organic Eldritch Abomination weapon that shoots black holes that suck in the zombies and crush them.

Taken to a new level with the Bows in Der Eisendrache.

The Lava bow traps zombies inside small lava graves, which them erupt like a volcano and burn the zombies into a crisp.

And then there's the Void Bow. Shooting a charged shot causes a rip in dimensions to open and mini Keeper demons to appear. They then proceed to EAT THE ZOMBIES ALIVE. Lampshaded by Dempsey.

Dempsey: Owww! That's a BAD way to go!

The Storm Bow creates an electrical tornado that grabs and electrocutes zombies. It has enough force to lift them with the electrical charge!

The KT-4 in Zetsubou No Shima shoots a liquid that causes spores to grow in the zombies and make them pop.

Dempsey: GET PLANTED, FLESHSORE!

The new Ray Gun in Gorod Krovi has two guns: One that shoots a Paralyzer-like ball, and a Ray Gun Mark III. Firing the Ray Gun into the ball causes it to create a black hole that disintegrates the zombies.

Darker and Edgier: Black Ops II is not as lighthearted as the previous games. There are still some wonderful one liners, but in general, many of the situations in the game are not Played for Laughs. Black Ops III goes even darker, as the series becomes an all out Cosmic Horror Story as the heroes race to kill their original counterparts and save the universe from the ancient evil known as the Apothicons.

And topping off this trope is Mob of the Dead, the darkest map in the series, with very, very few lines Played for Laughs. In this map, we also have straight up criminals instead of jerkasses and soldiers as protagonists, including Billy Handsome and Sal DeLuca.

Buried is incredibly dreary and solemn. It's clear the crew has gone through hell to get here and they spend the entirety of the map in dark, tight spaces, following the orders of unseen people in the hopes of saving the world. No matter who you help, it's heavily implied the four are killed regardless. Either Richtofen has the world as a plaything, only to be trapped in Samuel's body, or Maxis destroys the Earth for nothing. Even the Easter egg song, "Always Running" is far and away the saddest song.

Origins has the original four back, but not the crazy schizophrenic Richtofen, Comically Serious Takeo, crass drunk Nikolai, or Blood Knight Dempsey. Instead, we have a very solemn battle to save Samantha from Agartha.

If Shi No Numa was dark enough, Zetsubou No Shima in Black Ops III takes it to new levels. The map's atmosphere is dreary, the only sounds are crickets and what it seems to be screams or moans of pain, and everyone that managed to survive the zombies was killed by giant spiders, not to mention the dreadful experiments that took place in the island.

Gorod Krovi takes the four to a destroyed Stalingrad taken over by undead and dragons controlled by Group 935. All that can be seen in the distance is Russian aircraft desesperately trying to kill the dragons and artillery fire all around, alongside moans of pain all over.

Daylight Horror: Gorod Krovi, Buried and Shangri-la take place in broad daylight. Kino Der Toten might count, but the action is restricted to the interior of said cinema. Other maps take place either with a heavy fog or a grey sky (Die Rise, Tran Zit, Origins, Ascencion, Nuketown, Call Of The Dead) or during the night (the rest).

The Giant: Edward, who was central to the storyline, manipulated all the characters to further his plans and was the Big Bad of the main timeline, get uncermoniously headshotted by his Origins self as part of a plan he had no idea about in the intro of the map, meaning he is the only one to not have an Easter Egg about his death.

Der Eisendrache: Tank, the stereotipical angry gung-ho Marine, who was always ready to fight another day, is barely clinging to life in his stasis pod and die peacefully by his other self merely turning the life support systems off.

Zetsubou No Shima: Takeo, who always went about honor and serving the Emperor, got betrayed by the very same Emperor he was following with Undying Loyalty, was the subject of horrible experiments by Division 9 and dies by seppuku, the only way for a samurai to die with some honor.

Gorod Krovi: Nikolai, who always joked about killing his numerous wives in violent ways and was always drunk, goes ballistic when his Origins self mention the death of their first and only wife in an air raid, something that they couldn't prevent and wracked them with guilt, tries to kill his Origins self before getting a shotgun to the face.

Defcon Five: Played straight. Handwaved with DEFCON ONE locking down critical access to a few rooms, and FIVE releasing enough security to get you some new toys.

Deliberately Monochrome: Ascension begins this way. The color only returns when you turn on the power. Lampshaded at the start, right before Gersch requests your assistance.

Also, shown at the end of the Ascension side quest/easter egg where Samantha lets out a howl that disorients the players and brings back the monochrome coloring for a few seconds.

Downer Ending/The Bad Guy Wins: At the end of Buried, which is the last map before Origins, players have the choice of either siding with Maxis or Richtofen. If Maxis wins, he banishes Richtofen from the Aether and uses his powers to open a rift to Agartha, which will destroy Earth in the process. If Richtofen wins, he destroys Maxis' soul, possesses one of the characters, gains full control over the Aether, and uses it to turn the Earth into his personal playground. Thankfully, this chain of events is undone when their Origins counterparts change this timeline by killing the original Richtofen.

"Friends, neighbors, ladies, gentlemen, if you're feelin' underpowered, I'll help you make amends. Just stick your weapon in the slot, and let it change your luck. Few things in life are guaranteed, but I promise this won't suck Punch your fists into the air and raise a rebel yell! There's lots of bad 'uns out there you need to send to hell! With Pack-A-Punch, I have a hunch, all your problems will be gone, but if you end up on the ground, sing a country western song. Pack-A-Punch (Everybody)! Pack-A-Punch (Yee-haa)! Pack-A-Punch! Pack-A-Punch! Pack-A-Punch (Everybody)! Pack-A-Punch! Pack-A-Punch(YEE-HAA!!!)Pack-A-Punch (WAA-HHAAAW)!"

Most of the Perk-A-Cola machines account for this, too.

Earth-Shattering Kaboom: Two. One in Moon where you blow up the Earth and another in Der Eisendrache, where you return the favor. Though technically that last one counts as an example of Detonation Moon.

Easter Egg: There are three types of Easter Eggs - Radios that serve as the backstory of Group 935, Dr. Maxis, or other important characters; ones that activate original music created exclusively for the map; or major Easter Eggs that directly affect gameplay and the storyline.

Black Ops II splits the story Easter Egg into two, as during the maps you can choose to complete an Easter Egg for either Richtofen or Maxis. The culmination of the main Black Ops II storyline has two different endings: Richtofen's side, where Richtofen causes Dr. Maxis to simply cease to exist, and then joins a character in their body, or Dr. Maxis' side, where Maxis throws Richtofen out of his spot as the "Demonic Announcer" and then starts to destroy the Earth to get his daughter Samantha back.

Earn Your Happy Ending: After eight years of maps and a battle across time and space, Richtofen, Dempsey, Nikolai, and Takeo are save the universe from the Apothicons and kill the Shadow Man. Despite initially wishing to destroy them, Monty agrees to send them back in time to become Primis, four revered warriors who led the first battle between humanity and the Apothicons. The crew lives out the rest of their days as heroes, saving the Earth from the Apothicons again, and ultimately, completing the cycle so that one day, they will save the universe in Revelations again. The cycle is complete, with the heroes achieving their destiny and true place in the universe.

Easy-Mode Mockery: In easy mode of Black Ops II, all Easter Eggs are disabled, save for the musical ones. These things can only be done on Original difficulty.

Eldritch Abomination: The Apothicons. They are the true main antagonists of the series, bringing destruction and chaos to all dimensions, and are utterly alien in appearance and power. The Keepers as well, althrough they happen to be creatures hellbent in keeping the balance of the dimensions and aiding in the purge of the Apothicons.

Subverted in Mob of the Dead, if you carry out the Easter Egg to completion.

And again in Origins.

Exactly What It Says on the Tin: Well, except for Shi no Numa and Five, which are Japanese zombies and zombified White House/CIA/American zombies. It's now simply Zombies Mode in Black Ops, subsequent games, and the iOS ports, due to the fact you don't fight just Nazis anymore.

Mob of the Dead, where four, blatantly obvious criminals fight against hoards of the undead, led by an evil guard in Alcatraz. Yes, that Alcatraz.

Maxis vs. Richtofen, where the former wants to destroy the Earth, and free Samantha, and the latter wants to heal the Earth, and make it his own plaything, making the lives of whoever is still alive, complete hell. Either way, the result is crappy.

Face–Heel Turn: Richtofen in Moon, not that he was good to begin with, what with attempting to kill his partner, Dr. Maxis, and his daughter, Samantha Maxis, before the events in Der Riese, and brainwashing the other characters and using them as experiments, among other things.

Dr. Maxis pulls one in the Buried easter egg, by becoming the announcer and planning to destroy the world.

Feed It a Bomb: The Margwa in Shadows of Evil is only vulnerable when it has a mouth open, at which point you need to feed it bullets until the head explodes. Do this three times and it will die.

Feel No Pain: Zombies, being zombies, do not react in pain to the weaponry that hit or dismember them - they keep coming unless they die. They'll even generally crawl after you if you've knocked their legs off.

Fire-Forged Friends: Well, not friends, but as they are under increasingly serious attack, the characters will act more like a team. (At least they say they will. Whether they do or not is up to the players.)

Flaming Sword: The Keeper Sword in Shadows of Evil is wreathed in flame, similar to the Keepers.

The fly trap easter egg in Der Riese feels like a horror movie where you communicate with an unseen demonic force. Come Moon, it's revealed that's exactly what you're doing: whoever's soul is within an alien device is taken to another dimension, the Aether, where they can control the Zombies. Richtofen knew this all along and only in Der Riese did he realize it was all just a game to Samantha.

On the Wii version of Kino, one can find a very poor quality video clip revolving around the Great Leap Forwardnote an incredibly crude effort implemented by Mao Zedong to boost China's prosperity by having everyone work themselves to death trying to make steel for the country - which resulted in an even bigger economic loss and the deaths of millions of people. In Black Ops II, the first DLC map is in a location called "Great Leap Forward" in Shanghai, China.

Takeo muses in Ascension that the zombies are the greater threat than Richtofen and resolves to focus on the former. In a way, he's right: whatever force controls the Zombies and is the source of power behind whoever is the Demonic Announcer is a far greater threat than Samantha, Richtofen or Maxis. This evil entity turns out to be the Shadow Man and the Apothicons.

In Nacht, Der Riese, Ascension, and Shangri La, the Moon is clearly visible. You can just see a red smudge that grows more and more visible with each map. The final map of Black Ops and theWham Episode of the story takes place on the Moon.

In Shangdi La, Takeo and Dempsey both realize Richtofen is up to something big. Turns out in Moon, everything so far has been a part of his grand scheme to take over the Zombies.

Some of the survivors of Black Ops II seem to realize Maxis intends to destroy the Earth, although considering all the insanity and hysteria of the apocalypse, the player probably didn't take them too seriously. They should have.

The translated cypher on the lyric video for "Where Are We Going" - "Let go and the beginning will become the end." - revealed what the final map would be like - a return to the original six major characters during the first zombie outbreak, which (for now at least) seems to wrap up the story and has the characters finally reaching the fabled [[spoiler:Agartha.

In the trailer of Der Eisendrache, Dempsey calls the titular map "a suicide mission". He ends up being the one to kill his WW2 self at the end of the Easter Egg.

All over the place in recent maps, where ciphers delivering clues about next maps are hidden.

The voices Richtofen and other characters have been feeling since the beginning of the series? Revelations strongly implies this to be the voice of the Shadow Man, who's bent on letting his masters, the Apothicons, destroy this dimension.

Notice how the plot of the series really started when a meteor of Element 115 landed in the swamps of Shi No Numa? That's because Element 115 is a material created by the Apothicons, who speak to whoever comes in contact with it via the Shadow Man and direct the listener towards bringing about the destruction of their dimension for them. Richtofen and Maxis eventually destroyed the Earth in the original timeline after the insanity of exposure to Element 115.

In Mob of the Dead, Weasel complains that he can't get the name "Nikolai" out of his head for some reason. Later, the opening cinematic of The Giant uses the Mob of the Dead round music when 2.0 Richtofen emerges from the teleporter. Later, the same cue is used during the first trailer for Revelations. In the end cutscene, after the Apothicons are defeated, Richtofen reveals that he took vials of blood from the Mob gangsters, as their dimension had been sealed off from the Apothicons, creating a paradox that allowed the crew to survive the resetting of the universe.

In Origins, we see strange statues in the likeness of the crew in the Crazy Place. Ultimately, the Origins crew is allowed to live out the rest of their days as the heroes and leaders of the human-Keeper alliance to fend off the Apothicon invasion in Primis, making it clear why there were statues of the crew in the Agarthan place.

Richtofen used the group to help him find Samantha so he could switch bodies with her and gain control of the zombies.

Dr. Maxis had a counter plan. Now existing as a digital entity, he had recordings instructing the party how to weaken Rictofen. That was the destruction of the Earth's atmosphere, essentially loosening Rictofen's control over the zombies on Earth.

The Death Machine serves as a power-up for the rest of the Black Ops maps. As of Der Eisendrache in Black Ops III, it is also avaliable in all Black Ops III maps and can also be summoned with a specific Gobblegum.

Giant Mook: Most of the "Boss Zombies" fall into this category, including George Romero, Brutus (aka the Warden), the Panzer Soldat, the Margwa, the Trasher and the Russian Mangler.

Ghost Town: Considering that Buried is set in an underground, mostly-abandoned ghost town, and you'll wonder why they built it there in the first place.

Greater Scope Villain: Throughout the series it's been hinted that there's a larger evil force behind the zombie mayhem, greater than Richtofen or the Maxis family. The final Revelations DLC map from Black Ops III confirms that the Shadow Man and the other Apothicons were behind it all from the beginning.

Griefer: Actually encouraged in a game mode called Grief, where two teams must compete to win, despite being technically co-operative. You have actively sabotage the other team to survive, as you can't directly attack the opponents.

1. Using an EMP Grenade while you're using the Mystery Box. It cancels the spin and you don't get your points back!

2. Using said EMP, however now on the Pack-A-Punch not only powers it off, but will get rid of whatever gun was in it. Massive trolling.

3. Blocking you from using the Bus by blocking the doors. Good luck running through the fog with no idea where to go with those bloody denizins coming after you...

"Groundhog Day" Loop: Important to the Mob of the Dead map's storyline. The four mobsters intended to escape Alcatraz using a plane constructed by Weasel, but infighting caused Sal, Billy and Finn to turn on the former and kill him on the prison roof; a crime for which they would be exectued via electric chair. They ended up in the Afterlife, where they attempt to recreate their escape while fighting zombies. Save for Weasel, the mobsters cannot recall what exactly happened, but regain their memories (if the map's Easter Egg is performed), in which case, they kill Weasel and die once more, repeating the cycle. The cycle can be broken if Weasel successfully defeats the others, at which point he is freed from his repeated deaths.

Guns Akimbo: When you upgrade your pistol, you'll gain two of them. They both spit out grenades. Nixon also wields two shotguns in the intro to the first Black Ops Zombies map.

Again in Moon, where the Wonder Weapon Wave Gun can be taken apart on a whim to become a dual wield shock gun.

Ritchofen: "Double the pleasure, double the pain, double the DAMAGE!"

In Zetsubou No Shima, the Marshall16 Dual Wield is avaliable from the mistery Box.

In Gorod Krovi, the GKZ-45 Mk. III are basically two experimental weapons: one that fires clouds that slow down zombies, similar to the Paralyzer, and a Ray Gun Mark III in the other hand. Firing the Ray Gun into the cloud of the GKZ turns the cloud into a Gersch Device-like black hole. The NX Shadowclaw semi-automatic crossbow is also avaliable in Dual Wield version.

Ghostapo: This is what happens when you expose alien metals to undead Axis soldiers.

A literal example in the form of the Pack-A-Punched Ballistic Knife, the Krauss Refibrillator. You can revive downed players by stabbing or shooting the blade at them.

In Gorod Krovi, the NX Shadowclaw Dual Wield crossbow does this once upgraded.

The Heavy: Richtofen is the most prominent antagonist for Black Ops and Black Ops II. However, in Black Ops III, the Shadow Man takes this position as he's the most prominent antagonist representing the true antagonists of the franchise, the Apothicons.

Hellhole Prison: Mob of the Dead's Alcatraz is portrayed as this, showing massive amounts of decay, shoddy repair, and overrun with zombies covered in razor wire, and impaled with chunks of wood. Though considering that this is while the group is in purgatory, it's understandable.

Heroic Mime: The soldiers in Nacht der Untoten. Thankfully, the other levels avert this completely.

Slowly gets subverted the higher the round number due to the zombies getting more health every round. The subversion is why the Bowie Knife was introduced in Der Riese, and THAT gets subverted after a while.

And then the Thundergun in Kino der Toten, which is always a one hit kill. And then the Winter's Howl on Five, and they get subverted eventually, too! But that's only due to ammunition reasons.

Then there's the Wave Gun in Moon, which follows the Thundergun in being a one hit kill. But not only that, but it can be taken apart to make a dual wield version that is also a one hit kill!

The pistol inside the bus in Tranzit, usually one hit kills zombies with its three round bursts, costs less than most other weapons, and is available right from the start.

Probably the king of all these weapons is the Sliquifier from Die Rise. Originally thought by the fans as an absolutely terrible new Wonder Weapon, the Sliquifier has proven that it is the greatest Wonder Weapon yet. There's a video in which a player kills 91 zombies in a single shot.

In Tranzit, the superweapon was a Jet Gun that worked on a cooldown and shredded zombies to bits. It wasn't that great. With the release of Buried, we receive the Paralyzer. Insanely quick cooldown, slows zombies to a halt and kills them in seconds, massive range, and you can fly in the air with it? Sign me up!

In Shadows of Evil, you make some sort of Eldritch Abomination gun that shoots black holes. It's like having ten Gersch Devices!

In Der Eisendrache, it is possible to obtain a bow by feeding three dragons. The bows can be upgraded to bows that draw in power from elements: the Storm Bow, the Void Bow, the Wolf Bow and the Lava bow.

In Zetsubou No Shima, the KT-4 and it shoots a liquid that makes spores grow in zombies and makes them explode, similar to the Sliquifier.

Insane Troll Logic: Maxis's plan to save the world from zombies: blow it up, at least at first glance. He was actually out to destroy the Earth's atmosphere and strike a critical blow to Richtofen's power over the Aether.

Interactive Narrator: All the player characters can hear the Demonic Announcer. Leading to these lovely exchanges:

Flamethrowers are useful if you have the Double Tap perk, because the increased fire rate means that the zombies burn up a lot quicker. Pack-A-Punching it adds nitrogen cooling to your flamethrower, making this much more practical.

Black Ops III allows a second pack-a-punch for all bullet-firing guns, and one of the secondary bullet types is Blast Furnace. Once triggered, it sets all zombies in the vicinity on fire.

Lethal Joke Weapon: The Golden Spork in Mob of the Dead. As ridiculous as this sounds, it's more lethal than the Galvaknuckles. Yes, a spork is more deadly than electric brass knuckles! Holy crap! To specify, the Golden Spork is five times more deadly than the Galvaknuckles. Getting it requires using the acid infused Blundergat in the laundry room after mixing the spoon in the bathtub of blood. A laugh later, and go back to bathtub. Have fun using it to Curbstomp zombies.

MacGuffin: Each maps has one or several of those, necessaries to complete it's Easter Egg. The Summoning Key can be considered as one of to the entire Black Ops III storyline.

Call of the Dead, combining Call of Duty and Night of the Living Dead (1968) (the latter of which was directed by George A. Romero, who shows up as the final boss of the level).

Mob of the Dead has 'Icarus'. A plane that is supposed to fly the Mobsters out of Alcatraz, crashes on the Golden Gate Bridge.

Buried is named for the character's situation - they have to decide to follow either Richtofen or Maxis, but they overall don't have the best of hopes anyway. No matter who they help, they all die in the underground town, unable to return to the surface.

Der Eisendrache is German for "The Iron Dragon", named after the dragons you have to feed, and that it is the motif of the long gone king.

Zetsubou No Shima translates from Japanese to "Island of Despair". Considering what happens in the island...

Gorod Krovi translates directly from Russian to "City of Blood."

Mood Whiplash: A lot of the musical easter eggs by Elena Siegman. Often, they change from normal singing to furious screaming in the blink of an eye. For example, in "Beauty of Annihilation":

Bring me down... WITH 7.62 AND HIGH VELOCITY!!!Bring you down... WITH 7.92 AND NO IMPUNITYYYYY!

The songs themselves can do this; having a playlist of all the songs on random and you can go from a quiet solemn song (Always Running) to a screamo (Paredolia + Coming Home) and back to a 'soft' grunge song (Lullaby for a Dead Man) within a ten minute span.

Pack-a-Punching your guns in Der Riese onwards often includes a gigantic increase in firing rate. It even turns some semi-auto weapons into full-auto weapons. However, trying to compensate for a lack of accuracy in this manner will just cause your ammunition reserves to run dry. (although the lack of accuracy becomes a problem because headshots in the later rounds are the only way to quickly kill a zombie.)

Multiple Head Case: The Margwa in Shadows of Evil has three heads. All three have to be destroyed to kill it.

The Multiverse: The Black Ops III zombies arc is the original crew's attempts to erase the zombies from all realities, and save it all from the Apothicons, ancient evils that seek to destroy all realities.

The SVG-100 turns into the Ikken Hissatsu. Which is Japanese for "To annihilate in one blow".

Nazi Nobleman: Averted in Richtofen's biography, which makes reference to this trope, saying he gained influence amongst German's high-class, but disagreed with the Nazi Party (though mostly because he considered them not evil enough). He did join the army to fulfill his sadism, however. And also Averted with Group 935 as a whole, as Maxis joined with the Nazi party to further their agenda, but Maxis is strongly implied to have stalled as much as possible so as to not hand their advanced weaponry over to the Third Reich.

The Call of the Dead cast, unbeknownst to them. They gave the Vrill Device to Richtofen, who would use it to take control of the zombies in the Aether, and this would lead to the Earth's destruction.

No matter who the Green Run group help, they only make things worse. If Richtofen succeeds, the Earth remains as is, and Richtofen ends up trapped in Samuel's body and seems doomed to die with the other three. If Maxis succeeds, he destroys the Earth and everyone still on it. The worst part? He still fails to find Agartha..

Richtofen and the crew all manage to save their 1.0 versions and create the perfect world... Then Maxis fiddles with the Summoning Key and gets tricked by the Shadow Man. Who then proceeds to unleash his overlords on the perfect world that Richtofen worked so hard for. Dr. Monty admits it's not really Maxis' fault, as he doesn't actually have a soul since he only had his brain to work with.

Now all lead by ELECTRIFIED, STAGELIGHT-WIELDING, NEARLY INVINCIBLE ZOMBIE GEORGE ROMERO!

Now completely and utterly crushed by not one, not two, but THREE 1000ft tall giant robots in Origins!

Now summoned by the spawn of the Apothicons, complete with turning into tentacle monsters and making living guns that shoot black holes!

GIANT SPIDERS AND PLAYER-EATING ZOMBIES!

AND SET AFIRE BY GIANT DRAGONS AND ELECTRIFIED BY NAZI ROBOT DRONES!

And now including zombies and tidbits from ALL maps in one single place alongside Eldritch Abominations you couldn't imagine in your worst nightmares!

Nintendo Hard: The game is a lot harder to play solo, especially if you aren't intimately familiar with the maps and zombie behavior. There's a huge emphasis on headshots and all the players are Two-Hitpoint Wonders. Black Opstakes things a step further by making it much harder to hold up in one spot, introducing ankle-biting gas zombies, and nerfing the machine guns. If you know how to properly lead the zombies, though, it's a lot easier to get high scores playing alone than it is with groups. In later games, there is a way to lower the difficulty, at the cost of being able to do the Easter egg.

Done in Mob of the Dead, where the mobsters end up crashing into the Golden Gate Bridge support beam with their makeshift airplane and fall to the ground below, they just merely get dazed as a result. Justified, they are not in the real world, they are in purgatory.

A little purge from the giant robot and the player falls a great height in Origins, 1000 ft. They survive of course. Handwaved somewhat with this quote.

Richtofen: The initial test subjects did not survive the purge sequence, hence the addition of the velocity compensator.

The Power of Rock: Well, technically, Rock was far from invented yet in 1918, but a Gramophone and some records are needed in Origins to open up specific areas, all which are very important to creating the map's wonder weapons.

The Death Machine in some Black Ops maps can be this on later rounds when you realize that it doesn't do that much damage and makes you unable to run. And then you realize you can't buy things or revive people when you have it...

The Nuke powerup instantly kills every zombie on the field and awards all players 400 points each. The problem with this is that the number killed are usually worth more than the points the powerup gives you, it makes attempts to activate secrets on the map harder by possibly ending the round (leaving one or two zombies alive is often used to extend a round indefinitely for this purpose) or killing zombies that players need to directly kill for certain reasons, and in the early rounds you can grab it by accident simply because it's cheaper and earns more points to knife zombies than shoot them.

Psycho Electro: Dempsey's more... fond of the Wunderwaffe than the other characters, as well as the Storm Bow in Der Eisendrache.

Rasputinian Death: Nikolai notes the ability for a zombie to keep coming at you with arms, legs, and even a head blown off in one of his quotes.

Moon reveals that Richtofen has been using the other three to help him enter the Aether and take control of the zombies.

Buried reveals that Maxis has been plotting to use the survivors of Earth to help him take Richtofen's place in the Aether, only to destroy the Earth so he may reach Agartha and find Samantha.

The Giant sets forth the new direction for the story, and that the Origins crew is from an alternate dimension from the one up to Buried. They are also systematically killing their original timeline selves to prevent the original timeline from happening.

Gorod Krovi reveals that Dr. Monty is an omnipotent being who has tried to keep the universe in balance, and is going to help the gang save it.

Revelations has already set forth a ton of reveals just in the pre-release material, unsurprising given the title of the map. The ending of Origins was actually set in a reality inside the Aether, created by Dr. Monty as a safe haven for new incarnations of the original four and the Maxis' after all the horrors they've faced. Furthermore, the Apothicons are unveiled as the true main antagonists of the series, as they are beings of pure evil who seek to destroy the universe by sending Element 115 to all realities - and the element corrupts any who come into contact with it, and in the original timeline's case, led Richtofen and Maxis to destroy the Earth. The Shadow Man is properly identified as the chief enforcer of the Apothicons, who now are about to conquer the Aether and destroy the entire universe.

Revolvers Are Just Better: Played straight, and subverted. The revolver is a good weapon and a good choice for early rounds... but later on, its low rate of fire and the zombies' increased health is a crippling weakness.

Completely played straight in Transit onwards, where the revolver Executioner is massively more powerful than most of the weapons in the box, even the Ray Gun!

And in Buried, we get a new revolver by the name of the Remington New Model Army. It's damage against the body is above average, and it has a decent reload time. However, it gets massive damage multipliers with headshots. Said multipliers rise even higher when the weapon is upgraded.

Rule of Cool: Why are you fighting as a crazed Nazi, a drunken Russian, an honor-obsessed Japanese soldier, and an even crazier American? Why are there miniature grenade launchers and electric guns? Who cares?

Alternatively, why are you fighting zombies as John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Robert McNamara and Fidel Castro in the Pentagon? I think you know exactly why.

Gets better when celebrities are thrown into the mix.

And why is Sarah Michelle wearing a sleeveless cut off shirt in the middle of Siberia?

And eventually, mobsters fighting zombies in Alcatraz.

The weapons themselves. Started from the Ray Gun and now we got cluster grenades disguised as a Russian nesting toy and a miniature black hole generating bomb along with elemental based weapons.

Running Gag: When attempting to purchase something he doesn't have enough points for, Nikolai will make references to a stripper who took his money:

Nikolai on Kino der Toten: What?! That stripper must have stolen my money! Nikolai on Ascension: That stripper DID take all my money!...bitch.... Nikolai on Shangri-La: Where does all my money go? Vodka, she is cruel mistress. (which, in itself, is a Running Gag)

Sequel Difficulty Spike: Black Ops II 's zombie mode is a few orders of magnitude harder than the one in the original Black Ops, especially on Solo. Zombies get stronger and faster much earlier on, and the smaller levels and narrower corridors make it much more difficult to form zombie trains. Black Ops 's zombie mode was already more difficult than World at War 's, as each weapon had been nerfed, and machine guns were less viable.

Played straight with Black Ops III. The zombies run faster and are able to attack MUCH faster than in previous games - to the point that being trapped is basically a death sentence, and one running zombie is a HUGE threat. To not make it downright impossible, players can now take three hits without Juggernog. Not that it helps...

And now the final Zombies map being produced for Black Ops has Tank, Nikolai, Takeo, and Richtofen fight zombies on a base on the surface of Earth's moon. If that isn't absurdly over the top then I don't know what is. About as over the top as the Earth blowing up.

Black Ops II has TranZit, one of the biggest Zombie Mode maps to date, featuring interconnected areas that also serve as smaller maps. The premise behind said map counts as it shows the verydestructive aftermath of Richtofen's antics in Moon.

Now we have Die Rise, which is also an incredibly large map, and expands greatly on the after affects of Moon and the conflict between Doctor Maxis and Richtofen's plans.

And after that, "Mob of the Dead." This is the largest zombies map to date, with a boss who can shut down perks and the box.

The final map, "Origins:, takes place during World War I, in a Dieselpunk France, is the largest map to date, features a tank you can ride on, and a skyscraper-sized robot.

Black Ops III starts relatively tamely with ''Shadows of Evil, where you fight zombies in a 40s city. And then the aliens shows up. And then you fight a servant of the ancient evil the maps have been foreshadowing since the beginning.

The Giant: Did Richtofen just got killed by his Origins self, saying it's to "secure a better tomorrow"?!

As of Black Ops III, the Origins characters are in a mission to destroy all of their WW2 counterparts to avoid the collapse of dimensions, and creating a perfect world for them to live away from all the fighting.

Silliness Switch: The main campaign of World at War is serious. As you might have guessed, this isn't. Well, eventually.

Extremely averted in Die Rise, where the beginning of a new 115-related plague and the absolute rule of Richtofen are shown.

Averted again in Buried, if you listen to Maxis, he becomes the Demonic Announcer, and tells you that he plans on destroying the Earth to be with Samantha. Listen to Richtofen, and he jumps into Stuhlinger's body.

Black Ops III moves the story firmly into that of a Cosmic Horror Story, as it becomes a desperate battle against the Apothicons, who are trying to destroy the universe.

The Executioner. A shotgun revolver that has a lot of spare ammo. Even better upgraded.

The KSG in Origins. It still fires slugs, which gives it massive range for the weapon, and when upgraded, you have more ammo than the rest of the shotguns. Add a reflex sight, fast mag, and massive stopping power (Even better with Double Tap II) and you've got the one weapon you can use for the rest of the game.

The 205 Brecci and the Haymaker 12 in Black Ops III. Pack-a-punched, both have around 120 plus shells available and utterly annihilate anything in it's way - to the point that most zombies simply become red mist. Hell, even the KRM-262 pump shotgun is amazing once it's pack-a-punched.

The Starscream: Richtofen to Maxis during their time in Group 935. Maxis refuses to allow Richtofen's experiments with the teleporters to continue, convincing Richtofen to work behind his back. Eventually Richtofen decides Maxis is unfit to lead 935, especially after declining to mass-produce his prized invention, the Wunderwaffe. Maxis had his reasons, as he truly had no intentions of giving such powerful weapons to the Third Reich, who were funding them at the time. Things probably would not have gotten so bad if Maxis had bothered to explain this to Richtofen...

Time Travel: First seen when Element 115 overloaded the teleporter in Der Riese to send our heroes to the future.

Those Wacky Nazis: Richtofen is a mad doctor. His former buddy, Doctor Maxis, was much more level headed, though still a Nazi.

Actually, Group 935 is a worldwide group and preceded the Nazi party. They simply decided to help the Nazis by giving them some of their Wonderweapon technology in exchange for funding.

Unstable Equilibrium: If you can avoid getting knocked down, get headshots consistently, and Pack-A-Punch your weapons to stay in the game, you'll rack up a nice buffer of points and the zombies can be very easy to kill even in rounds 20-30. Conversely, getting downed forced you to rebuy perks while being chased by zombies, and dying in a round forces that plus the Pack-A-Punch, which will cost a lot of points that are harder to earn without those features. Combine that with the cost of reloads and the ever-increasing strengths of the zombies, and it can become borderline impossible to keep playing.

The ''Origins' group is this for a while until Richtofen reveals his plans of killing their WW2 counterparts to avoid the collapse of the dimensions.

Villain Song: "Not Ready To Die" appears to be Dr. Richtofen's. A number of the series' songs seem to apply to Samantha, but "115" appears to be the main one and the one the fits the trope most.

Vitriolic Best Buds: Everyone insults everyone, but they'll help them, anyway. In fact, the characters themselves are programmed with different reactions to their teammates. They each have one teammate who they are friendly and hostile to, as well as one who they do not react to at all. For example, Dempsey likes Takeo, does not react to Nikolai and hates Richtofen.

Your Costume Needs Work: In Call of the Dead, George Romero tells a real zombie to get back to hair and make up because they "don't look dead enough". Said zombie is missing his lower jaw and is very decayed.

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